Hex Crimes Read online

  An untamed Vega was the last thing I needed right now.

  I sat up. Every part of my body ached. It felt as though I’d slept for days. If I were lucky, I had slept through my classes on Friday, and it was now the weekend.

  “How long was I out?” I asked.

  “All night. I think you got more sleep than most of us. Lucky you.”

  Something in the room smelled charred like barbecue. I was pretty sure it was me.

  I turned away from the early morning light coming in from the unshuttered window, getting a good view of our shared teachers’ dorm.

  It was hard to pinpoint what about the room reminded me of the Addams family—on crack. An old-fashioned cuckoo clock rested on the wall between beds, not so different from the one my grandma had in her house, but this one screamed when the alarm went off. I didn’t remember it screaming this morning, but it was nine o’clock, an hour after classes started.

  Then I remembered homeroom had been canceled because of the star party the previous night. Even if first period had been canceled, we still had three more block periods to get through. I was so exhausted. I didn’t know if I could muster the strength to make it to my next class in half an hour.

  I closed my eyes, too groggy to get up. If my body hadn’t hurt so much, I might have fallen back to sleep.

  Vega poked me again. “If you don’t fucking get up, Thatch is going to make me cover your classes. I have better things to do today.”

  I sat up and rubbed my eyes. A small but well-made rug in an Art Nouveau style was spread between the door and Vega’s bed. The flowers and geometric designs formed a giant skull.

  An Oriental dressing screen stood in the corner to the side of the window and desk. From a few feet away, the imagery looked like it showcased a Japanese cherry tree with red blossoms. Upon closer inspection, one could see the jagged branches impaled small birds and butterflies on spikes. The red appeared to be splatters of their blood. I was the one who got to lie next to that screen at night and try to have sweet dreams.

  A plant hung from the ceiling in the corner near the desk. When I neared it on a daily basis, the Venus flytrap’s jaws snapped at me. The desk now had an oil lamp, as did the nightstand, along with a vase of black roses. The coffin sticking out from under Vega’s bed and the gilded frame containing a portrait of a skeleton gave the room a creepy-witch vibe.

  Vega had filled every shelf on the wall with her books, including the spaces I’d hoped to fill.

  This year I had fought back against She Who Never Learned to Share in Kindergarten. When Vega had taken down my watercolors and inspirational posters, I had moved her macabre artwork aside and placed my art up again. Everything she had placed on my wardrobe I had sprayed with hot-pink glitter. While I had been asleep, she must have replaced her vials of dubious potions on the top of my wardrobe because they were there again.

  I pretty much hated every morbid decoration except for the guillotine next to the desk. That came in handy for chopping papers. I wished I had one in my classroom.

  It was hard to believe Vega had sat up all night with me. Someone had held my hand. Maybe it had been the school nurse. Then again, Nurse Hilda wasn’t the affectionate and nurturing type. More the bat-poop elixir kind of healer.

  “How did I get here?” I rubbed my aching temples. “Did you take care of me?”

  She snorted. “Thatch carried you. Don’t worry. I made sure he didn’t try to cop a feel while you were unconscious.”

  “Um, thanks.” There were a lot of things I wouldn’t put past Thatch, but groping someone who was unconscious wasn’t one of them. His MO was waiting until someone was awake to torture them.

  Vega’s eyes narrowed. “It’s hard to believe you survived being struck by lightning. You aren’t an Elementia. And you aren’t a Celestor—if you were, you would have caught more than two stars in three hours.”

  Vega knew enough about me to be dangerous. Even if she didn’t fully comprehend how my magic worked, it was impossible to keep a secret from her considering how she went through my things. With her as my roommate, I had no privacy. I was surprised Thatch had used her to spy on me. Hadn’t he suspected she would discover more than he had bargained for? If I wasn’t careful, she would know my secret—as well as his. I didn’t know what she would do with the knowledge once she fully put together that I was a Red affinity and how useful we were to the Fae.

  I wouldn’t be surprised if she sold me out for a new coffin.

  I tried to think of some kind of excuse. “That was my first time using meteor shower magic. Lots of students on the roof had trouble catching starlight.”

  “Yes, but those were freshmen. And that Imani Washington.”

  I didn’t want her to focus her attention on Imani. “Not everyone can be a Merlin-class Celestor like you. People learn at different levels. Some people are dunces. Like me. I’m still getting my magic back.”

  Only, I didn’t feel like someone who had been drained of magic. My affinity felt more satiated and complete than ever. More power surged through my veins now than before I’d been drained by Derrick. The lightning had been a better cure than magical orgasms from a Fae prince.

  Vega lifted her chin in the self-important way she did when she typically cut someone down. “True. Not all Celestors achieve a Merlin-class status. Even fewer Amni Plandai and Elementia master enough of their own affinity, let alone other forms of magic, that they can earn the title of a Nimue-level Amni Plandai or a Mage-ranked Elementia.”

  I was pretty sure we didn’t have any Nimue-level or Mage-ranked Witchkin here.

  “Yep, not everyone is Gandalf,” I agreed, laughing at my own joke. I doubted she’d ever heard of Lord of the Rings.

  She scooted closer, her eyes narrowing. “And then there’s you. That electrical shock should have killed you. Instead . . . you look healthier than ever.” Her gaze raked over me. “You should be drained worse than before. Instead, you’re . . . full of magic. You’re an anomaly. A freak.”

  I squirmed back.

  A sinister smile curled her lips upward. “Fortunately for you, I like freaks.”

  “Okay. Great. That’s nice.”

  She leaned in closer so that I was forced to scoot back farther if I didn’t want her face right in mine.

  She lifted an eyebrow. “I wonder what the other teachers think about your little magic trick out there.”

  That was a good question. The doorknob rattled.

  “Clarissa!” Josie squealed from the doorway.

  Her witch hat matched the lavender dress she wore made of alternating layers of lace. She rushed forward, elbowing Vega back from me in the process of hugging me. Vega scowled.

  “I was so worried about you!” Josie said. “Thatch sent me away and wouldn’t let me see you. I’m so happy you’re all right. How do you feel? Do you need anything? I saw the lightning strike the students and then you. I was certain—”

  I drew away from her. “What do you mean? Who else got hit? Is anyone else hurt?” I tried to remember what I’d seen. I’d rushed forward when I had noticed the students on the ground and Imani about to welcome lightning into her arms like a lover.

  Vega snorted. “No one else was directly struck. Only you. The students just had the wind knocked out of them. A few are still complaining about singed hair.” She swept a hand against her own frizzy hair.

  I breathed a little easier, knowing no one had died. “Imani is all right, then?”

  Josie shrugged. “I guess. I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”

  Vega studied me thoughtfully. “What is it about Imani Washington that worries you?”

  “Nothing,” I said quickly. “She didn’t do it. I did. I just want to make sure she’s all right.”

  Vega stroked her chin with one of her crimson fingernails. “No. You’re hiding something.”

  “No, I’m not.” I forced my voice to sound calm. “You’re overly suspicious. Imani is a nice
girl. I just wanted to make sure she didn’t get hurt.”

  Josie looked from me to Vega. “Maybe it would be best for Clarissa if you left so she could get some rest.”

  Vega stood. “Of course. Let Clarissa rest and save her strength for five minutes before she goes to class. She’ll need strength later for the inquisition.”

  “What inquisition?” I asked.

  Josie placed an arm around my shoulder protectively, but Vega was done with her threats for the moment. Her high heels rapped across the floor like a hammer tapping nails into a coffin.

  I had no doubt Vega would ask me a million questions later when Josie wasn’t around. Then there would be the principal and anyone else who might wonder what had happened. I was going to have to come up with a logical explanation.

  “Oh, sweetie! I’m so sorry you have to put up with her,” Josie said.

  “Yeah, me too.” I sighed, defeat heavy on my shoulders. “I don’t understand why Jeb ignored our request to be roommates. It seems like if we want to share a room and Vega wants the tower, the principal would have granted it.”

  Josie lowered her voice. “I asked Mrs. Keahi about it. She said Jeb and Vega discussed it. I know Vega’s been wanting the tower for a couple of years now, so it seems like if I was willing to trade, that’s all it would take. Mrs. Keahi thought Jeb was going to give it to her too. She’s worked here longer than me. She’s the one who should have gotten it. Even Mrs. Keahi said so.”

  This had to be Thatch’s meddling. For once, why wouldn’t he butt out of my life?

  “Mrs. Keahi told you all that?” I asked. “How’d you get so much juicy gossip out of her?” I’d always thought Mrs. Keahi was tight-lipped and unfriendly to everyone. But maybe she was only that way to me.

  Josie shrugged. “I brought Mrs. Keahi a coffee and a muffin from Lachlan Falls.”

  I laughed at Josie’s brilliance. All it took was her friendly smile and a muffin to get people to come around to her. She might not have been the most powerful Witchkin in the Unseen Realm, but what she lacked in power, she made up for with warmth and people skills. She was the kind of person who made me want to open up and tell all my secrets.

  In some ways that might be more dangerous than a skulking, spying, manipulative witch like Vega. If I told Josie what I was, it would put her in danger.

  Then again, nothing was more dangerous than Vega.

  My life would be so much easier if I shared a room with Josie. She wouldn’t follow me around and report my whereabouts to Felix Thatch. She wouldn’t threaten me, hex me, read my dream journal—or make fun of my Thatch-filled sex dreams later. Josie wouldn’t try to use me for my magic. If anything, I was surprised Vega hadn’t made me try to resurrect the dead for her again.

  “Why do we need the principal’s approval to switch dorm rooms?” I asked. “It isn’t like we’re switching classrooms. All three of us are agreeable to it, right? It should be up to us.”

  Josie shrugged. “I guess.”

  “Really. If we just ask Vega to switch with you, I bet she would do it. Who would care?” Besides Thatch maybe. And we didn’t need to tell him.

  Josie sat down on the bed. “The thing about Vega is she’ll probably make it seem like she’s doing a favor for us. You know how she is. She’ll make us give her something—even though she’s the one who would be getting a room all to herself.”

  “Probably.” Josie knew Vega as well as I did, though she’d only been unfortunate enough to have her as a roommate for one year.

  “The real person getting the short end of the stick is you,” I said. “You would be losing a room to yourself with privacy.”

  “Are you serious?” She laughed. “It would be like a slumber party every night. It gets lonely being in the tower away from the other female teachers.”

  I didn’t think I would be lonely. I liked my solitude and quiet time for making my art. There was only so much time with people I could handle. After a long day of being surrounded by hormonal students, hosting Study Club or Art Club in my classroom after school, and then covering a dinner duty, I had to put up with Vega in the evening. At least if I was stuck sharing a room with someone, I would rather it was with someone I liked and who was nice to me.

  Someone knocked on the door.

  “Yes?” Josie asked, rising from my bed.

  The door swung open, revealing Pinky in a khaki kilt. The sasquatch hunched down to duck under the doorway. Slouching, he managed to fit under the eight-foot-tall ceiling. He held a bowl of oatmeal in his hands and brought it over.

  “Hi, Clarissa,” he said in a mousy voice that didn’t match his hulking frame. “I thought I would bring up some breakfast since I didn’t see you down there this morning.”

  “Oh no! I missed cafeteria duty!” The last time I’d missed a duty, the other teacher hadn’t shown up either, and the school had been left in chaos.

  “Don’t worry. Mr. Thatch covered it. He said he’d watch your third period while you’re recovering if you needed more time.”

  Great. Thatch would probably say I owed him my immortal soul later.

  Pinky smiled, clueless to the turmoil building inside me. “Mr. Thatch asked me to relay a message to you.”

  I swallowed, expecting some cryptically cruel message that I would dissect for hours and torture myself about.

  “We have a staff meeting after school at three thirty. You need to be in attendance since the matter concerns you.” Pinky smiled cheerily, unperturbed.

  “Oh crap! I had plans!” Josie said, voicing my sentiments. “Why do administrators have to do this to us? Is it their goal to ruin my life?” She flopped onto my bed, wailing dramatically.

  Of course there would be an unplanned staff meeting on a Friday night. Probably because of me bringing lightning down on the school. I could only imagine how all the other teachers would react.

  “Ahem. Speaking of us horrible administrators and all we do to torture teachers… .” a man said from the hallway, a hint of a Middle Eastern accent to his deep voice.

  Khaba stood there in a hot-pink tracksuit that hugged his muscled frame. Not many people with the dark sandalwood of his skin tone would have been able to pull off that particular hue of pink, but Khaba’s Fae origins lent him the ability to look good in anything. Magic rolled off him in waves, making the air around him waver like a mirage.

  Since he’d returned to the school as our dean of discipline, I’d noticed a subtle change in his magic. He didn’t smell as much like amber and frankincense as petrichor and sagebrush. He’d grown a pointed beard, making him look more like the djinn of legends, though he still sported a bald head.

  Khaba pointed to Pinky. “I will overlook a man being in the women’s dormitory this once because Josie is present, otherwise I would need to reprimand you.” He lifted a dark eyebrow, ever the stickler for rules. He looked to Josie.

  Pinky crossed his arms, the annoyance in his face evident even with his abundance of facial hair.

  Khaba grinned. “And speaking of not wanting to reprimand any teachers. I believe you should be heading up to your classrooms to prepare for today’s classes.”

  Josie groaned. “We all had a late night. Cut us a little slack.”

  “It’s not in my contract to cut you slack. It’s in my contract to enforce school rules.” From Khaba’s wicked grin, I had a feeling he enjoyed his contract.

  Josie hugged me again, infusing me with reassurance and warmth. My best friend was one of the few people I trusted to comfort me with physical touch. She had never used my magic against me—nor did I think she would if she had known how touch ruled me.

  Khaba remained in the doorway, only scooting to the side as Pinky and Josie filed out past him.

  “How are you feeling today?” Khaba sauntered closer. “Are you up for teaching? Last night must have taken a lot out of you.” There was true concern in his eyes.

  I pushed aside my covers and rose. “I’m
fine. I should hurry so I won’t be too late for class.” I didn’t want to owe Thatch any favors for watching my third period.

  Khaba put up a hand as if to stop me. “Don’t rush. You need to take it easy today. If you start to feel light-headed or don’t feel well, send a student down to my office. I’ll make sure we get someone to cover your classes.”

  I wanted to thank him, but I stopped myself. I had learned the price for thanking a Fae. But Khaba wasn’t like other Fae. He worked for the school. He’d never been bound by the same rules of the Faerie Realm. He’d been bound by his lamp. I didn’t know what governed him now.

  I nodded to acknowledge his offer and used the alternative words I’d learned instead of thanking someone. “That is nice of you to take care of me. I’ll send a message if I need you.”

  Once he left, I hurriedly ate. My hot-pink hair was still frizzy even after I showered. Because homeroom had been canceled on account of the late-night event, I didn’t have to worry about missing the first class of the day.

  With the block schedule at our school, it was an A day, which meant I had periods one, three, five, and seven today. I was only thirty minutes late to my third-period class.

  It was unnaturally quiet outside my classroom, and I couldn’t help wondering what Thatch had done. I fortified myself outside the door with a few yoga breaths.

  I ducked my head down as I entered, avoiding Thatch’s gaze as if he were Medusa. I knew better than to thank him, so instead I mumbled out an apology for being late.

  Thatch stood up from my desk, a giant in my small chair. The students sat at tables in their assigned seats, quietly working on their art projects. A few looked up and waved as I entered.

  Thatch’s face remained expressionless. “Miss Lawrence, a word out in the hall, if you please.”

  “Sorry, now isn’t the best time. I need to get my class started.”

  “Your lesson plans were written clearly enough that I was able to get students started without you. A minute of conversation will not detract from their learning.” He eyed them grimly. “They know the consequence for not working.”